


looking for something dumb to do

by vulpines



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: 5+1 Things, Accidental Marriage, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Idiots in Love, No Pregnancy, Safe to Read if Triggered by Pregnancy, marriage customs must differ across the galaxy and this fic is a cute attempt at exploring that, references to mating in one of the parts but
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27985257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vulpines/pseuds/vulpines
Summary: Even though the galaxy is massive, humans, in their own selfishness, tend to forget that marriage customs differ across planets & species. Ben Organa-Solo and Rey of Jakku are no different.(also known as: the five marriages between Rey & Ben that were accidental and the one that wasn't.)
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 19
Kudos: 51
Collections: Reylo After Dark's Nightmare Before Christmas Exchange 2020





	1. The Carry

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thewayofthetrashcompactor (BriarLily)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriarLily/gifts).



> based on the prompt:  
>  _"Accidental soulmates/married/magically connected Reylo. (ex: exchanging food is how people get married in Jakku)."_
> 
> I really REALLY loved this prompt bc it's actually something I had a vague idea for in the past but never got around to writing it. 
> 
> Title of the fic taken from the song "Marry You" by Bruno Mars.

  
Being a big game hunter & mercenary had its benefits; even with his size (considered auspicious amongst his own Dowutins), Grummgar had learned how to maneuver around quietly, especially in a sticky situation.

And a sticky situation is what found him in Takodana. Maz’s place was solid - although with all cantinas such as these, one can always expect a problem. What Grummgar wasn’t expecting was the darkly seductive woman keeping him company to abandon him half-way through their next round of drinks and the castle to get blown to bits in another battle between the First Order and their opposing band of Organa-backed rebels. 

(If not for Grummgar’s own survival instincts, he’d throw Han Solo & the little BB unit everyone seems to be after to the First Order wolves himself just to end this never-ending cycle of intergalactic drama.)

Grummgar’s posted behind a colossal durasteel fragment - now solidly set into the earth after being blown off the castle’s rooftop. The battle rages on and his goal is to keep a low profile until the sea of stormtroopers and opposing X-wings are gone so he can be on his way to the uncharted regions for more profitable hunting. But, out of the corner of his eye, something - someone - in black catches his attention.

While the First Order has been a slowly growing behemoth of power, the last several years have ensured everyone knows about the organization’s main group of black-shrouded enforcers. Even if word in Grummgar’s usual circles flips between him being just a kid playing Sith dress-up or a real force of danger to be reckoned with, if Kylo Ren himself is here it means that Maz has gotten herself into some deep banthashit. 

Yet instead of a glimpse of that infamous cracking crimson saber, Ren seems to have his hands full with something - someone - lighter. A group of stormtroopers surrounds the knight as he makes his way through the ongoing melee, another human (a woman?) laying in his arms. 

Grummgar watches from afar - although Dowutins’ sense of sight grows weaker with age, he’s still in his first century of life and can easily perceive the way Kylo Ren’s grip on the woman is steady but not intending to inflict pain. If not for the battle all around them, Grummgar would’ve said the scene looked like a typical Dowutin mating ceremony; but a blast to his right stuns him out of the absurd thought.

Ren and his group make their way onto their ship soon enough though, and Grummgar takes the opportunity as the battle dies down to find his own freighter (luckily still mostly intact) and get out of Takodana as quickly as possible. 

It’s only once he’s in the air, coordinates set to a planet in the Outer Rim, that Grummgar barks in laughter. If only the mighty Kylo Ren knew that carrying another member of his species like that was the traditional Dowutin signal to the world that one had claimed their mate. What a story to tell at the next cantina he finds…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Grummgar is the Dowutin we see lounging in Maz's Castle with Bazine Netal (before she gives away the location of BB-8 to the First Order). I was looking for an alien creature in Takodana that had a wiki page with enough info to go off of, and he fit the bill!


	2. The Handfasting

The Lanai have always been beings of peace. The Force is strong - in the islands they call home, in the very air they breathe and the food they catch and the grass beneath their feet. The Force is both friend and foe, and neither at the same time. But it is not for them to wield, not the way the Old Man does and others in the past (called the Jedi) have done. The way of the Lanai is balanced; they are content with their lives, taking care of this land and ancient temples which call to both dark and light. 

The Old Man was an interruption into this routine, but for the most part he kept to himself. In a way, he was helpful; sharing his massive catches of fish and fixing up some of the huts. He respected Alcida-Auka’s position as matron of the Caretakers and therefore matron of this island in his time there with little interference. She knew, in the way that she has always been able to sense these things, that this man was defeated; she also knew he was no longer in tune with the ebb and flow of the Force. But no matter how much one tries to close that door, the Force is a persistent partner; unable to be truly cut out. 

And so they live in peace with the Old Man for some years, until, one day, a ship lands on the island carrying the Girl. The island reacts immediately; she is both so in tune with the Force and so out of touch. The song the island sings is anxious - she is not a child, but Alcida-Auka can sense that she has growing to do, in many ways. The Girl has a part to play - in what, it is not for her to say. 

The Girl - Rey - is stubborn. She follows the Old Man every day, through wind and rain and glaring sun. She marvels at every piece of the island, as if she’s seen it before somehow, and yet the place is so clearly so utterly new. She traverses light and dark as unthinkingly as any creature Alcida-Auka has ever seen. And she manages to bungle their routine often enough; blasters going off mid-air one morning causing more unnecessary repairs, barreling into the Festival of Return with her teeth bared and ready to attack. 

The whole island can feel it, the day the Girl descends to the dark waters below. Alcida-Auka ensures the rest of the Caretakers under her wing keep up their duties, tending to the village and the uneti tree. But there is something in the air, the edge of a reckoning. 

The Girl emerges from the depths soaking and shivering, the latter not entirely due to the weather which has now taken a turn for the worse. Her emotions - disbelief, anger, mourning, and above it all a deep abiding loneliness - are infecting the air of the village. While Alcida-Auka has always kept a bit of a distance from the Girl, she also feels for her and what she might have learned in the Cave below. She makes sure that a fire is roaring in the hut the Girl has taken over, placing extra blankets that they can spare with the rest of her bedding. 

Soon, Alcida-Auka is aware of another presence in the Force. A young male - so strong yet so far, his true power echoing from a place much further away. The Force is a discordant rage inside of him, light and dark equally pulling him from all directions; yet, in the presence of the Girl it seems to quiet, a focus that narrows only to the two of them. While the Lanai are simply Caretakers of the island and the surrounding Force, Alcida-Auka allows herself - just this once - to reach out on her own volition and  _ see _ . 

“I’ve never felt so alone…” the Girl whispers in Basic.

“You’re not alone,” murmurs a low voice, almost unaccustomed to soothing.

“Neither are you.”

The Girl sits across from him - the Boy; the fire sparking in between. His appearance is not so vivid as the Girl, whom Alcida-Auka knows is on the island in the flesh this very minute.

“It isn’t too late…” the Girl says; slowly, slowly reaching out with a hand, as if not to startle a spooked animal. The Boy pauses before baring and reaching out his own. Human fingers and palms meet in the middle, akin to a kiss. 

Alcida-Auka knows that humans do things differently than the Lanai; in a galaxy so large, every group of beings has their different customs. But what she’s seeing now is reminiscent of her species’ own bonding ceremonies, once a Caretaker has decided upon which Visitor she will claim as her own. The chosen Visitor would then take the Caretaker’s hand in his own, acknowledging each other as their better-halves. If Alcida-Auka was a different matron, she would share this coincidence with her daughters and they might all have a good laugh at the foibles of man, unintentionally entering into a Lanai marriage bond. 

But the Force - it rings! The fire seems to burn brighter, the Boy suddenly more solid and clear than ever before. There is a quiet radiance cutting through the storm, as the two humans gasp; Alcida-Auka thinks perhaps the Force has given them the gift of other sight, as they gaze into each other’s eyes both seeing and unseeing. 

She doesn’t know what visions they each receive; she’s pushed the boundaries of her role as Matron Caretaker anyways. But Alcida-Auka thinks deeply on what she has been shown that night in the storm and wonders at the fact that the Force should choose to bring these two together - even after the Old Man interrupts them and the Girl leaves the island in a burst of energy, and even later, when she finds the Old Man’s empty cooling robes on the on the Temple’s cliffside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I REALLY LOVE THE LANAI and I hope I was able to convey them/their POV decently. 
> 
> Touching/clasping hands over a fire just really reminds me of aspects of my culture/religion's wedding ceremonies, and I've always wanted to delve into that a little bit.


	3. The Blood of Alderaan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the length on this one uhhhh I got in my feels. 
> 
> (also!!! content warnings for vague allusions & mentions of motherhood towards the end especially - this chapter is about Leia & while there's nothing graphic or specific re: motherhood, the general mood is there. If that's something you're not comfortable with, feel free to skip this chapter!)

Even after discovering the truth of her biological heritage (and the power within her own son), Leia Organa never wanted to be a Jedi. It’s a decision that she’s both grateful for and one that she’s haunted by, for a myriad of reasons. Yet, with the death of her brother, she finds herself reluctantly taking on the mantle of Master for Rey. This girl - a scavenger, this blazing flame in the force, still in some ways just a child - is so hungry for belonging, her skin screaming for it.

(Leia doesn’t let herself think on it too deeply, not now while there’s so much to be done regarding the Resistance after their near-demise on Crait; but truthfully, the girl reminds her of Ben in certain ways. It breaks her heart with yearning, just as much as it presents another chance to maybe make things right. She won’t fail Rey, not the way she did her son; she can’t allow that to happen, for the girl’s sake and for the greater galaxy’s.)

Rey is usually eager to please, throwing herself into necessary tasks, missions, & training with a tenacity that speaks to Leia's own work ethic sometimes. But she seems a little off-balanced today, more so than Leia's seen in awhile. She tries not to be too harsh on the girl for running some minutes late to the clearing on Ajan Kloss which has become their makeshift Jedi practice ground; but being the leader of the Resistance in the wake of a struggle against the First Order means that she doesn’t have a lot of time to wait on others.

Rey’s kept her hood up so far while attempting to meditate and convene with the Jedi of old (who Leia hopes might be better teachers than she is attempting to be); while Ajan Kloss is a jungle planet, the early morning air is sometimes cooler than one might expect. Leia never had any interest in reaching out to the ghostly Masters of old, relics of another era...but there are times when she wished she could better connect - the silent spectres of her son and brother always in the back of her heart.

But the musings of an older woman are suddenly interupted when the momentary peace abruptly snaps; Rey drops down from midair from where she was hovering, nearly hitting Artoo (who jerks away with a frightened beep) in the process. The younger woman groans loudly in frustration with teeth bared, the sound echoing through the clearing. 

"You alright, Rey?" She calls across the small clearing.  


"Ugh, I'm sorry Master. Nothing bruised except my pride..." Rey responds, irritation at herself coloring her voice.  By the time Leia gets close enough to help the girl up, Rey's already back on her feet, brushing down dirt & stray foliage from her white robes. 

"I know it takes time trying to reach those deep in the Force, but you were barely meditating for five minutes Rey. Not to mention, you were late...what's going on today?" Leia asks, trying to be mindful and supportive while also firm. If the girl's been kept busy with other priorities - which everyone in the Resistance would not find strange - it could just be a matter of rearranging their schedules. While Rey makes no secret of the fact that she prefers lightsaber training, piloting on reconnaissance missions, or even helping out with mechanical issues more than meditation, she's rarely put up a fuss in the past. 

"It's nothing..." She mumbles, eyes darting to the side above Leia's shoulder for a split second before refocusing on the older woman's quirked brow. "Really...nothing. Just frustrated that none of these oh-so-wise and ancient Jedi never seem to want to help either of us out for once, when the galaxy's the way it is."   


Rey starts to brush aside some of the strands of hair sticking to the opposite sides of her face, come loose in her fall. The white hood she's taken to wearing (which Leia personally doesn't see the need for but the _optics_ can help on occasion) slips from the top of her head.

It takes her a second to fully notice it, but even with all of her politician's experience, Leia Organa cannot help the audible gasp that emerges at the sight. For Rey's hair is not in her usual three classic buns today; instead, the girl's hair is styled somewhat like the way it was when she returned to them on Crait, but with one key difference.

The braids adorning the side of Rey's head reach to something deep in Leia's heart that she has tried to reign in since Alderaan and everything ( _everyone_ ) she loved on it was destroyed all those decades ago. The brown hair (a shade or two lighter than Leia's own) is threaded together beautifully, if a bit fumbling, as if almost done by someone who had lost the habit of practicing. While the position of the pair - one on each side of Rey's head - resemble a crown ( _victorious one_ , reminds the dulcet voice of her own mother), the twists themselves say something else.

"Master...General Organa? Is everything alright?" Rey prods worringly, one of her hands coming up to reach for the older woman's shoulder; Leia realizes she's been staring at the girl with a hand clutched to her chest.

_My darling one, beloved of mine, the one my heart yearns for..._ the sign which turned a mild flirtation into a proper engagement. Leia remembers the giddiness in the air, whenever one of her friends or handmaidens would return from a rendezvous with a paramour, hair transformed with the addition of braids almost exactly like these. But Alderaan has been dead and gone for years; even with the few lingering survivors (like herself) and their offspring, there's no way a girl from Jakku would know the meaning of a style like these. 

Yet Leia still finds herself reaching out tentatively in the Force and asking shakily: "Who gave you those braids?"

Rey's eyes go round and Leia can feel her energy clamming up; the girl stands straight and leans slightly back, as if by removing herself from the situation might make responding easier. 

"No - no one." She pauses a bit too lengthily, before rambling on. "Well, Kaydel and some of the other girls - and you! - always have such lovely braids and I thought I would try something new - a different look."

_A lie_ , says Leia's own intuition; besides the few days around Crait, Leia's never seen Rey attempt any other style other than the one she's apparently spent most of her life in, but the only other explanation is too ludicrous to entertain.

She tries to settle down her aching heart, attempting to put a more logical hat back on. Rey seems to realize there's nothing much else that she can say; with her own strength in the Force, she has to be aware that Leia isn't buying the coincidence but hopes the woman won't question her further. 

"Do you know -" Leia starts, clearing her throat after a few moments of silence, "that in my culture, we had very similar braids to the ones you're wearing?" She doesn't wait for an answer before continuing on, paying attention to the younger woman's expressions. "And braids...they do have meanings...usually very deep ones," she says, catching Rey's torn gaze with knowing eyes of her own. 

"What -" Rey chokes out, riveted, "what do mine seem to be saying?"

"This one..." Leia murmurs, reaching out to right a small strand that's come loose, "this one would have to be done by someone very close; someone who loves you deeply. But not family, or friends; someone who wants more." 

"Someone...who loves me?" Rey questions softly; she seems shaken, breathing a bit more shallowly and half-lost in her own head.

_Not now, don't ask her now, it doesn't make sense, don't think about B-_ repeats Leia's own inner voice, and she listens, reigning herself back to an attempt at non-chalant.

"I guess, to put it bluntly, it looks like a traditional engagement braid. Practically married; although there are other procedures and ceremonies to cement that bond too, especially for us in the Elder Houses..." a poignant pause, before casually continuing, "But what do I know?" 

Leia pats Rey's arm, eyes lingering on the braids once more before shaking her head. "I guess hairstyles aren't that unique; and Alderaan's been gone for a long time, I'm sure it's just a coincidence. Regardless, you do look very lovely Rey. Now let's give meditation one more shot before I let you move onto some lightsaber forms."

Leia pats down her own robes, making her way several feet back to where she was originally standing, giving Rey a small moment and some space to become the Last Jedi once more.

(Later that evening, as Leia lets her own braids down - first, those that say: _a daughter of the Elder Houses, the leader, wife-in-mourning_ \- in the comfort of her private quarters on base, she allows herself to reach out with as much power as she holds across the galaxy. The connection is so fragile, and she cannot perceive much beyond knowing it exists, but she tries to convey as much as she can while untangling the last braid - that one which says _mother_.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just really love Leia & my heart is always crying for Alderaan...the idea of passing down pieces of culture and myth (even in a more humorous way here) is close to my heart.


End file.
